Resistance to Brick Row Cracks

The Richardson City Council voted 5-2 on Monday to approve zoning changes requested by the Brick Row developer that would allow units planned as condos to be built as apartments instead. Ian McCann has the story in The Dallas Morning News.

Last October, a different council voted down a similar request 6-0. Only Steve Mitchell and Amir Omar cast "no" votes both last October and this week. Bob Townsend switched his no vote to yes. Mark Solomon, who was absent at last October's vote, voted yes this time. Gary Slagel, John Murphy and Bob Macy, who all voted no in October, are gone from the council. Their replacements voted yes this time.

New council, different result. Is this another case of the old rule that elections have consequences? Probably not. After the jump, why.

The DMN's Rick Perry Problem

Mike Hashimoto, the most conservative member of The Dallas Morning News's editorial board (at least since Rod Dreher left and arguably before), has been beating the drum for the last six weeks to get the rest of the board to encourage Rick Perry to run for President. Only Hashimoto is too cool to admit to driving the Rick Perry bandwagon. Instead, he says:

"My position, in vast oversimplification, is that while I'm not certain he would be the best GOP nominee, the race sure could use what he has to offer."

Whatever. After the jump, how is Hashimoto's drive going?

How Good Is Your Local School?

How good is your local school? Don't expect to find out from the Texas Education Agency's (TEA) accountability ratings, due out this week. You know, the ratings that say your kids' school is "Exemplary" or "Recognized" or "Acceptable." Why not? Thomas Ratliff, a member of the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE), explains why ... after the jump.

Elections Have Consequences

The mayor won the election. Elections have consequences. A revealing exchange of emails was published this weekend on David Chenoweth's blog that shows how this old rule is playing out in Richardson and how some don't like it.

The first email is a personal email from Richardson's new mayor Bob Townsend to City Plan Commission member Jim Henderson. The mayor informed Henderson that he will not be supporting him for reappointment to the Plan Commission. The mayor gives no reason. The short email reads like a courtesy email intended to ensure that Henderson learns of the decision directly from the mayor himself.

The second email is the response by Henderson, in which he suggests that the mayor's decision is politically motivated.

Then a former candidate for city council, Bill Denton, comments. The mayor is accused of acting in "your vendictive [sic] ways when someone crosses you."

After the jump, the emails.

Highlights from Richardson's Budget Retreat

The Richardson City Council held back-to-back budget review meetings Tuesday and Wednesday at a "retreat" at the Richardson Woman's Club. City Manager Bill Keffler presented a proposed budget for 2011-2012. The introductory handout for the retreat claims that the city's budget development process conforms to a variety of guidance features including "City Council Goals." But the City Council is still in the process of setting their 2011-2013 goals. So, I'm not sure how the City Council provided inputs on the general goals for the budget -- e.g., overall revenues and expenditures and tax rate, what areas to increase or decrease, etc.

Anyway, after the jump, the highlights of this year's proposed budget.